Sky Sports duo deliver ‘dumb’ Mikey Lewis verdict as suspension threat assessed

Sam Tomkins described the moment of madness which led to Mikey Lewis’ sin-binning against York as a ‘dumb play’, but insists it shouldn’t see him suspended for next week’s World Club Challenge.

Reigning Super League champions and 2025 treble winners Hull KR were beaten 19-18 away at newly-promoted York in the opening game of the new season on Thursday night.

The Robins had been in control midway through the second half and were leading 18-6 when star man Lewis was sent for ten minutes in the sin bin by referee Liam Rush following an off-the-ball incident.

Replays showed that Lewis had deliberately tripped York skipper Liam Harris, and with their playmaker off the field, KR lost all control.

Quickfire tries from Sam Wood and Scott Galeano saw the Knights draw back level at 18-18, and Ata Hingano was the hero of the hour as he popped up with a match-winning drop goal late on.

Sky Sports duo deliver ‘dumb’ Mikey Lewis verdict as suspension threat assessed

Lewis now risks being handed plenty of penalty points by the Match Review Panel on Monday, and could miss next Thursday night’s World Club Challenge clash against NRL kings Brisbane Broncos. The following week, KR are in Las Vegas taking on Leeds Rhinos.

Speaking post-match, Sky Sports presenter Brian Carney said: “After he is sin-binned for the trip, he looks genuinely incredulous, like he doesn’t think he’s done it. They’ve got him banged to rights.”

Sam Tomkins and Jon Wilkin were the pundits alongside Carney, and neither offered any defence for Lewis’ actions.

Tomkins, who has worked alongside Lewis in the England setup in the last few years said: “It was a dumb play by Mikey. He’s an emotional player at times and he gets frustrated.”

Reviewing footage, Wilkin then added: “It started after the (second Jai) Whitbread try with a push on (Liam) Harris.

“He (Lewis) is verballing him (Harris, it’s emotionally over-aroused. That’s not a calm international player, that’s a guy who’s lost his rag.

“If Harris has done an expert job at chipping away at him which leads to the yellow card, then I think fair play to him, because he knew that situation is very advantageous for York.”

But Tomkins – who will this year play a big part in deciding who the Man of Steel is – rounded off the discussion by making his stance on a potential ban for Lewis clear.

The

ST: Don’t go over the top with it, no one got injured, let’s not bag Mikey Lewis. It was a dumb play but he’s got a big game next week and I hope it doesn’t have any repercussions for him.